Apple has reportedly had "strong words" with publisher Capcom about in-app purchases in the free iPhone and iPad children's game "Smurfs' Village," and is said to be considering adjusting iTunes account login times after receiving complaints from parents.

Citing a "well placed source," PocketGamer.biz reported Wednesday that Apple has taken notice of "accidental" in-app purchases of Capcom's "Smurfs' Village." As of Wednesday, the free application, last updated Feb. 4, ranked third among the "Top Grossing" applications on the iPhone App Store.

"Apple has told Capcom in no uncertain terms that its freemium children's game has been causing problems with an increasingly significant number of parents who have complained that their children have been racking up large amounts of in-app purchases without their knowledge," the report said.

Capcom's game includes numerous warnings on its App Store listing. It notes that the title "charges real money for additional in-app content," and informs users that they can disable the ability to purchase such content through the device's settings.

The application's description also notes that iOS keeps users logged in for 15 minutes after entering an iTunes password to purchase content from the App Store. Additional purchases do not require re-entry of the password during the 15-minute span.

"This is a function of the iOS software and not within our control," Capcom wrote.

PocketGamer said it has heard that Apple has refunded numerous parents after their children made "accidental purchases" in the Smurfs game. It also said that Apple could be "looking to tighten up its iTunes log in procedure" and reducing the time to 5 minutes.

AppleInsider has also received a number of complaints and inquiries about Smurfs' Village, as the application has remained one of the highest grossing software options on Apple's App Store.

"I'm curious if you are aware (of) any formal complaints about the iOS game Smurfs Village?" one person wrote. "The game appears to be a scam, but has lasted surprisingly long on the App Store. It's free, but charges outrageous in-app fees to buy varying amounts of 'Smurf Berries.'"

But the game is not the first or only to upset some users due to in-app purchases. In December, users of a free Chinese-language iOS massively multiplayer online roleplaying game complained of unauthorized purchases. In those cases, it was also said that Apple refunded the money.

In-app purchases were first introduced with the release of iOS 3.0 in 2009, and were initially restricted to paid "premium" applications. Later that year, Apple granted developers the ability to offer in-app purchases in free software.

Apple takes a 30 percent cut of all purchases on the App Store, whether they are made in-app or are in the form of an up-front payment to purchase software. This week the company announced recurring subscriptions for iOS content, and also banned links to out-of-app purchases, which have allowed some content providers to bypass Apple's 30 percent cut taken from in-app transactions.

While it would be nice if Apple offered an option for a zero timeframe interval for In-App Purchases or auto-required this if Restrictions are enabled, this is not Apple’s fault. Parents should understand that putting their password into a different device they will not be controlling can have negative consequences.

Apple does need to make one simple change. After an App Store download they need to require a re-login to make an in app purchase (even if it allows future in-app purchases for a period of time). They could also consider a preference to enable a password for all in-app purchases which will be on or off by default based on user preference.

As for Smurf's Village, owning up to the fact I do not own it and the in-app purchases may not be clearly labeledparents do need to accept some responsibility here. Also, I imagine much of this increased ire is because Smurf's Village has become a media darling as of latebut if these charges people are complaining about truly aren't purchases the parents authorized (and they didn't do something stupid like give the child the password to their account) then the concern is legitimate.

The true measure of a man is how he treats someone that can do him absolutely no good. Samuel Johnson

This is not Apple's fault nor responsibility. The parents who are too stupid to understand what is going on here are too stupid to have children in the first place. There are PARENTAL CONTROLS built into every iPhone!

I don't think it is the developers fault if parents failed to keep an eye on theirs or their children iPhone/iPods. I bought my son an iPod touch and the first thing I did was disable everything (Safari, Youtube, iTunes, App Store.. etc). When I purchase new game I never hand him back the iPod until I disable the app store and test the game to make sure the game is appropriate.

Although Apple could have added an option to use password protection for every purchase, many kids know or memorise their parents' passwords. The problem here is the actual cost of the Smurfberries, and here Capcom is to blame for stealing money from babes.

When systems have problems, some developers always blame users, but to be honest, if a system doesn't work then it's just a bad system and needs to be changed. That's the case no matter what kind of system you are talking about - a user interface, a game, driving a car, whatever.

Kudos to Apple for refunding and looking to shorten the login time - although perhaps just an option in Settings would do. Bad hexes to Capcom for designing the game to suck money from children. They're the real bad guys here.

This is garbage. If they warn you that in app purchases are real money before you download the app and then you don't watch what your kid is doing it's your fault. Or even worse, you've given your kid your password that's linked to your credit card. Capcom may have outrageous pricing but other than that they are not at fault here.

Shame on parents who don't teach their kids well. Those kids need to be mowing the lawn for the next couple months rather than having apple pay for their carelessness

And if the child in question is 4 years old? Good luck trying to teach them not to click on the pretty smurfberry they need to expand their Smurf village. I wonder if you've ever been a parent. It's a lot easier to criticize than actually do.

This is not Apple's fault nor responsibility. The parents who are too stupid to understand what is going on here are too stupid to have children in the first place. There are PARENTAL CONTROLS built into every iPhone!

Agreed but at the same time the game is obviously hoping in app add-ons are purchased 'accidentally' so it is a scam really. The problem is this sort of behavior damages the trust parents have in other free kids games.

The answer I would have thought is simply for an Apple regulation that states the -default setting- to be that NO purchases can ever be made in ANY free game on the apps store. Only if a user chooses to change the default (and this is on each game NOT globally) to allow so that can they be made and that should require a password log in to confirm.

This isn't just kids. My wife, while not having her glasses on I assume (lol) accidentally signed up for some crap that was billing $9.99 a month on her AT&T bill while accidentally clicking in the wrong place on some free puzzle. In this case AT&T removed two months worth of this billing without hesitation but never the less it is disgraceful that the free app had such a thing and no doubt the button was deliberately close to a button one would need to press. There was no 'are you sure' dialog obviously just a one click purchase!

From Apple ][ - to new Mac Pro I've owned them all.Long on AAPL so biased"Google doesn't sell you anything, Google just sells you!"

Apple builds and entire ecosystem of trust and allows any company with a good idea to use it to practically print money for themselves, yet Capcom puts it's efforts in finding a way to game the system and rip people off. It's kind of a cliche to say it, but if the Capcom employees put as much effort into making a nice game as they do into finding the one way in which they can screw people over, they would probably make more money.

I vote that any app with In-App Purchases present you with the option to turn them on upon first run (similar to notifications) and then place an option to disable IAP for each individual app in its pane the Settings app. That would solve all issues and do it in a convenient, recognizable system.

Although Apple could have added an option to use password protection for every purchase, many kids know or memorise their parents' passwords. The problem here is the actual cost of the Smurfberries, and here Capcom is to blame for stealing money from babes.

When systems have problems, some developers always blame users, but to be honest, if a system doesn't work then it's just a bad system and needs to be changed. That's the case no matter what kind of system you are talking about - a user interface, a game, driving a car, whatever.

Kudos to Apple for refunding and looking to shorten the login time - although perhaps just an option in Settings would do. Bad hexes to Capcom for designing the game to suck money from children. They're the real bad guys here.

Yep, Apple just need to state the default settings always have to be 'NO IN APP Purchases' on all free apps. User override available with password on any app. ... Q.E.D.

From Apple ][ - to new Mac Pro I've owned them all.Long on AAPL so biased"Google doesn't sell you anything, Google just sells you!"

And if the child in question is 4 years old? Good luck trying to teach them not to click on the pretty smurfberry they need to expand their Smurf village. I wonder if you've ever been a parent. It's a lot easier to criticize than actually do.

If the kid is 4 years old then A. don't tell them your password or B. don't put your password in and let them go wild buying stuff.

I don't think it is the developers fault if parents failed to keep an eye on theirs or their children iPhone/iPods. I bought my son an iPod touch and the first thing I did was disable everything (Safari, Youtube, iTunes, App Store.. etc). When I purchase new game I never hand him back the iPod until I disable the app store and test the game to make sure the game is appropriate.

It seems that most parents these days need someone to parent them too

I did the same thing. Just last week my 11 year old daughter asked me to open up in app purchases so she could buy smurfberries because she needed them to get Smurfette. I showed her the tuaw article about a kid racking up $1400 of charges on smurf berries and explained why in app purchases were staying disabled. I think it was a bit eye opening for her to see how such an innocent looking application could be used to extract such large sums of money.

That being said. $99 for a single in app purchase for "smurfberries". Capcom knows what they are doing and I'm really surprised that a major game distributor would behave in such a manner.

I personally was unaware that my password would be cached for 15 minutes after I entered it until I read the tuaw article about smurfberries. I would prefer to have the option to turn that off on my kids ipod touches to prevent them from accidental purchases.

And if the child in question is 4 years old? Good luck trying to teach them not to click on the pretty smurfberry they need to expand their Smurf village. I wonder if you've ever been a parent. It's a lot easier to criticize than actually do.

yeah, judging by the posts here most people believe that as soon as you become a parent you become stupid.

As stated by a poster above, I believe the fix should be a re-authentication for in-apps, not tied to the 15 minute session for app purchases. Just consider the use case: Parent buys app and hands to kid to play... oh yeah, and every iOS device has restrictions turned off by default. Lets assume that all 160,000,000 iOS devices will be managed diligently by their owners.

This is not Apple's fault nor responsibility. The parents who are too stupid to understand what is going on here are too stupid to have children in the first place. There are PARENTAL CONTROLS built into every iPhone!

Ah... technological elitism at its best.
"Everyone should spend every waking moment learning to become a computer wiz like I did... if they have other things to do with their lives, they're stupid."

And if the child in question is 4 years old? Good luck trying to teach them not to click on the pretty smurfberry they need to expand their Smurf village. I wonder if you've ever been a parent. It's a lot easier to criticize than actually do.

If the kid is 4 years old then A. don't tell them your password or B. don't put your password in and let them go wild buying stuff.

As many have already said, iOS doesn't handle this well. Let me spell it out for you:
1. Child asks for app
2. Parent enters password and download app (maybe even pokes around in the app)
4. Parent hands device to child
5. No additional password required for in-app purchase for 15 minutes

Does every parent understand that the child can make in-app purchases without entering a password? Many here do, I doubt the average person does.

Apple, as a parent, it would be GREATLY appreciated if there was a setting that required password EVERY time it is needed. I have to go into the app store after buying something and manually log out before I give my ipad or iphone to my 4 year old daughter.

As many have already said, iOS doesn't handle this well. Let me spell it out for you:
1. Child asks for app
2. Parent enters password and download app (maybe even pokes around in the app)
4. Parent hands device to child
5. No additional password required for in-app purchase for 15 minutes

Does every parent understand that the child can make in-app purchases without entering a password? Many here do, I doubt the average person does.

That's probably true, but still you have to watch what your kids are doing or teach them that it's not ok to buy things without permission. I know that's easier said than done but people blaming Apple are pointing their fingers at the wrong people.

This is not Apple's fault nor responsibility. The parents who are too stupid to understand what is going on here are too stupid to have children in the first place. There are PARENTAL CONTROLS built into every iPhone!

In this case, the simplest solution would be to decouple the password cache when you're actually making a purchase through the iTunes Store, from the password requirements when you're using the in-app purchase mechanism. This would not add any significant amount of inconvenience, and it would be an effective measure to protect against unintended charges in situations like this.

If we're looking for solutions, why not just add the option into settings. Personally I'd rather have it ask me every 15 minutes like it does now but if you want it to ask you every single time then give us that option.

Sounds to me like Steve Jobs needs to have a little talk with papa smurf.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 801

Those dirty Smurfs. They are so wily.

Apple's fault: OS X has always required credentials for doing anything that would affect the system. Why isn't password protection for in-app purchases always opt-in and not based on a login timeout? Also, why must I jailbreak my iPhone in order to have functionality that should be included in the iOS like the JB app LockDown?

Capcom's fault: Charging up to $99.99 for "6 Wagons of Smurfberries" in an otherwise "free" game targeted at children 4 years and older? Warning or not, this reckless.

Parent's fault: Not paying closer attention to what their children are up playing and the possible consequences, particularly handing a child your iOS device so soon after entering your credentials. I wouldn't let my child play a game that would then be nagging later for purchasing further game time or credits knowing full well the child will then start nagging me to make the purchase.

Children's fault: Not having their own job and income sufficient to support their Smurfberry habit!

You have to be a computer wiz to go to Settings and then Parental Controls? I'm in a whole different class of computer intelligence then.

Consider that many people (parents or not) may not even know what an in-app purchase is. It was added well after the app store came to be, and as for the updated user terms popup... find me 5 people that have read through the agreement in its entirety.

I don't think it is the developers fault if parents failed to keep an eye on theirs or their children iPhone/iPods. I bought my son an iPod touch and the first thing I did was disable everything (Safari, Youtube, iTunes, App Store.. etc). When I purchase new game I never hand him back the iPod until I disable the app store and test the game to make sure the game is appropriate.

It seems that most parents these days need someone to parent them too

That's nothing. Before I let my kids play with an app, I run a background check on the developer. Then I spend a week testing the app and investigating every possible interaction. A cost benefit analysis is run and then debated at the next family meeting. Clergy are brought into the picture and they once again write an in depth report on the possible benefits and harms of the app to my child. The a test child is used to 'play' with the app, which then calls for a battery of test to be run by doctors to see if any ill effects can be detected. Once these measures are complete the app can then be used by my child, but only in a monitored underground anechoic bunker with NO internet connection possible.
Any effort less then this, bad parenting.

That's probably true, but still you have to watch what your kids are doing or teach them that it's not ok to buy things without permission. I know that's easier said than done but people blaming Apple are pointing their fingers at the wrong people.

EXACTLY. My grandkids love to play with my iPhone and iPad BUT have been taught by my daughter that NEVER do anything with the devices unless approved by grandpa or grandma.
This is called personal responsibility. Not very well known nowadays, it seems.

That's probably true, but still you have to watch what your kids are doing or teach them that it's not ok to buy things without permission. I know that's easier said than done but people blaming Apple are pointing their fingers at the wrong people.

So a 2 year old can equate a screen tap to monetary responsibility? This is not like the stories of a kid grabbing mommy's credit card and ordering a Papa Smurf Chia Pet from a TV ad. I've read one person in another thread here had watched their kid tap the screen quicker then they could snatch the device away. Re-auth in-apps... done